Katarina fell back while coughing.

She threw up last night's dinner on the ground from this intense pressure l/n wasn't letting go.

"Ughh.." gasping, trying to breathe, she was shaking.

It was getting colder as the days progressed.

L/n pointed the sword to the ground in disappointment, 'Not a single hit, even a graze...'

"Clean yourself up. The maids will send dinner to your room to eat, you've disappointed me greatly, the least you could've been capable of doing was finishing fifty laps around this small place." He huffed, turning to walk back inside his abode.

'This man is insane..!' Katarina grit her teeth.

...

Katarina lay there on the ground, her body felt too weak to be capable of walking, let alone sit up somehow to try crawling.

'It's so... Cold.'

The sound of footsteps on dirt was clear to her ears.

...

"Did Father seriously just leave her there to find her way back inside?"

'Voices?'

"Yes, Master."

'Who is it..?'

"So this was how Father was trained as well, huh, I guess it isn't a wonder that he can survive even the harshest of environments outside the northern borders with his men."

Katarina opened her eyes, she couldn't feel her hand.

She looked, 'Did my hands get cut off..?'

Her hands were bandaged ending to her wrist and in between her fingers, currently, her fingers were full of band-aids, here and there, wrapped trying to hide the tiniest of frostbites.

Impressive.

"Ah, the Young Duke is awake, Master."

V/n hummed, looking over the bed with a smile, "You're awake, our Father was quite harsh wasn't he?"

Katarina looked over at them, her throat hurt, and she was parched.

V/n handed her a glass of water, helping her sit up, "You should drink and eat something hot before tomorrow arrives again."

Katarina winced, the side of her head hurt, it must be due to laying on cold dirt for hours until early evening.

"It'd seem there's a snowstorm happening," v/n looked out the window after helping Katarina.

Katarina's hands were a little shaky, fortunately, numb but a little shaky.

"Hahh... It's cold." She muttered while trying to eat the dinner that's been served for her.

The servant stood back, 'I can't believe she's the one who's going to inherit the title and throne of Grand Duke...'

'Looks like Father will be gone for tonight to subdue the monsters that'll be scratching on the northern borders tonight.' v/n huffed, turning to leave the room.

Her servant followed behind her.

"Dear sister, try not to think about anything too much. Letting your emotions get the best of you won't let you do anything you want to." V/n said before leaving.

When the door shut, loneliness was the only company besides Katarina.

'How long do I have to be here for..?' Katarina stared at the spoon full in front of her, 'This place is much more dangerous than I thought it wouldn't be for me.'

She sighed, leaning back a little with shut eyes.

She blinked, looking up, the ceiling looked empty.